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Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Size of planets and stars

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Original - An illustration of the comparative sizes of planets and stars. Starting with the planet Mercury at the top left we follow a growing sequence of planets and then a growing sequence of stars until we reach the second largest known star VV Cephei in the bottom right.
Reason
It's a mind-blowing sequence. The viewer is invited to reflect on stars so large their size strains the limits of comprehension. It's a high resolution, accurate and thought-provoking image - certainly a worthy candidate.
Articles this image appears in
Star#Characteristics, Orders_of_magnitude_(length)#Astronomical
Creator
Dave Jarvis
  • Image Data (obtained from NASA and Wikipedia):
Image Data for Planets and Stars

 

Sun
 ( ) Radius: 695500 : 2230 = 311.883408 = r
 (E) Relative: 109.046723
 (J) Relative: 9.72836122
 -> Sun Dist: 0

Mercury
 ( ) Radius: 2440 / r = 7
 (E) Relative: 0.376293509
 -> Sun Dist: 57909175
 (R) Sun Dist: 0.57909175

Venus
 ( ) Radius: 6051 / r = 19
 (E) Relative: 0.948730009
 -> Sun Dist: 108208930
 (R) Sun Dist: 1.08208930

Earth
 ( ) Radius: 6378 / r = 21
 (E) Relative: 1
 -> Sun Dist: 149597890
 (R) Sun Dist: 1.49597890

Moon
 ( ) Radius: 1737
 (E) Relative: 0.27234

Mars
 ( ) Radius: 3397 / r = 11
 (E) Relative: 0.532612104
 -> Sun Dist: 227936640
 (R) Sun Dist: 2.27936640

Jupiter
 ( ) Radius: 71492 / r = 229
 (E) Relative: 11.2091565
 (J) Relative: 1
 -> Sun Dist: 778412020
 (R) Sun Dist: 7.78412020

Saturn
 ( ) Radius: 60268 / r = 193
 (E) Relative: 9.44935717
 -> Sun Dist: 1426725400
 (R) Sun Dist: 14.26725400

Uranus
 ( ) Radius: 25559 / r = 82
 (E) Relative: 4.00736908
 -> Sun Dist: 2870972200
 (R) Sun Dist: 28.70972200

Neptune
 ( ) Radius: 24764 / r = 80
 (E) Relative: 3.88272186
 -> Sun Dist: 4498252900
 (R) Sun Dist: 44.98252900

Sun
 (S) Relative: 1

Wolf 359
 (S) Relative: .1725
 (J) Relative: 1.70246321

Sirius
 (S) Relative: 1.711
 (J) Relative: 16.6354977
 (Si) Relative: 1
 (C) White with bluish tinge ("white")

Pollux
 (S) Relative: 8
 (Si) Relative: 4.76190476
 (C) Light orange ("orange")

Arcturus
 (S) Relative: 15.9
 (Si) Relative: 9.46428571
 (C) Light orange ("orange")

Aldebaran
 (S) Relative: 25
 (Si) Relative: 14.8809524
 (Al) Relative: 1
 (C) Light orange ("orange")

Rigel
 (S) Relative: 70
 (Al) Relative: 2.8
 (C) Bluish-white ("blue-white")

Betelgeuse
 (S) Relative: 650
 (Al) Relative: 26
 (C) Reddish orange ("red")

Antares
 (S) Relative: 700
 (Al) Relative: 28
 (An) Relative: 1
 (C) Reddish orange ("red")

S Doradus
 (S) Relative: 1000
 (An) Relative: 1.42857143
 (C) Bluish ("blue")

KY Cygni
 (S) Relative: 1420
 (An) Relative: 2.02857143
 (C) Reddish orange ("red")  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thangalin (talkcontribs) 19:31, 17 February 2009 (UTC) 

VV Cephei A
 (S) Relative: 1900
 (An) Relative: 2.71428571
 (C) Reddish orange ("red")[reply]
Where "(S) Relative:" denotes size relative to our Sun. Thangalin (talk) 18:30, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment - I don't see the point of the "table" that all the objects are resting on. Also, Antares has a pixelation problem as mentioned by Rambo's Revenge. Kaldari (talk) 18:53, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment - Fixed Antares texture map seam (the "pixelated" problem) in sections (5) and (6). Fixed spherical mapping for Earth, Saturn, Neptune, and Jupiter in section (2). Thanks for pointing these out! Changed tilt for Jupiter to reflect reality. The table provides context for positional depth (a visual plane for level); without the table, it would be difficult to discern how the spheres are aligned along the horizontal. The shadows also help with visual alignment. Thangalin (talk) 20:12, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - Being one of the main editors involved in WP:SOLARSYSTEM (and also all of space), I think this is very, very, encyclopedic. Like it better than the planet sizes pic, actually. Ceranthor 01:34, 20 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - A remarkable image; it serves as a dramatic and accessible showcase of the differing scales of objects in our universe, even before we approach the galactic scale. Furthermore, most of the comments previously raised seem to have been addressed. Duminda Dahanayake (talk) 00:11, 25 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]


Promoted Image:Star-sizes.jpg --SpencerT♦C 02:24, 25 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]